Lost rural architecture of Black Sea in exhibition

ISTANBUL

The Turkish and Islamic Arts Museum in Istanbul has opened a new exhibition in collaboration with REVAK Rize Research Foundation, titled “Village Architecture of Eastern Black Sea,” based on Professor Orhan Özgüner’s research in the Black Sea Mountains back in 1968. 

Özgüner, himself of Black Sea origin, was a much-dreaded studio critic of the Faculty of Architecture at the Middle East Technical University. His research dates back to the times when the mountain villages in the Eastern Black Sea region were not yet explored. 

The exhibition consists of 100 photos gathered from his survey on vernacular architecture of the region in a book, which was until recently totally forgotten long being out of print, only to be re-discovered by REVAK officials in a second-hand bookshop, which lead to the re-print of the book and the recent exhibition. 

The exhibition aims at raising awareness to living in harmony with nature, a strong feature of Black Sea vernacular houses, but unfortunately a heritage already greatly lost. It is a very timely warning as the Black Sea is prone to open up to tourism, bringing rising demand for new construction developments. 

The exhibition will be on display until Feb. 15.